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14-Sep-2006, 07:05
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Jul 2004 Country: China
Posts: 618
| |  How to pronounce Lech Walesa
Lech Walesa, former Poland President. How to pronounce Lech Walesa in English? |
14-Sep-2006, 08:28
| | Senior Member | | Join Date: Mar 2006 Country: England
Posts: 671
First Language: English | | Re: How to pronounce Lech Walesa
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewHope  Lech Walesa, former Poland President. How to pronounce Lech Walesa in English? | Well, it wouldn't be in English, it would be in Polish  .
I think it's pronounced Lek Vallessa, but perhaps there is a Polish reader who could help? |
14-Sep-2006, 16:39
|  | Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2006 Country: USA
Posts: 3,275
Current Location: Detroit, Michigan First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher | | Re: How to pronounce Lech Walesa
My dad speaks some Polish, and when he pronouces "Lech" he sounds like a cat trying to bring up a hairball, so I can't begin to figure out how to type it phonetically. 
In the US, the newscasters usually pronounce it "Leck Wal-LAY-sah", but I'm sure that's no where close to the way Mr. Walesa says it. |
15-Sep-2006, 04:25
| | Editor, UsingEnglish.com | | Join Date: Nov 2002 Country: UK
Posts: 27,067
Current Location: Phnom Penh First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher | | Re: How to pronounce Lech Walesa
I have heard 'Vawessa' as well as 'Walaysah' in the UK, but I have no idea whether it's right or not. |
06-Sep-2007, 20:50
| | Newbie | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Country: England
Posts: 1
Current Location: England First Language: English Member Type: Other | | Re: How to pronounce Lech Walesa
The "CH" at the end of his first name is similar to the "CH" in German - a kind of a soft "K" sound with a strong hiss - also similar to the Scottish word "Loch"
The "W" at the start of his surname is pronounced as a "V"
The third letter in his surname is a diacritic character - a "l" with a slash through it. It's pronounced like a "W" in English.
So I would guess the best guide would be
le-H VAWessa
At least that's my understanding... |
07-Sep-2007, 12:02
|  | Moderator | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Country: England (South East)
Posts: 7,648
Current Location: England (South East) First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher | | Re: How to pronounce Lech Walesa
Quote:
Originally Posted by I.E. Lester ...
The third letter in his surname is a diacritic character - a "l" with a slash through it.  It's pronounced like a "W" in English.   ?
... | If by 'like' you mean 'not dissimilarly, using the phonemic resources of English'...
b |
07-Sep-2007, 12:18
|  | VIP Member | | Join Date: Sep 2007 Country: Canada
Posts: 5,547
Current Location: Shanghai, China First Language: English Member Type: English Teacher | | Re: How to pronounce Lech Walesa
Quote:
Originally Posted by NewHope Lech Walesa, former Poland President. How to pronounce Lech Walesa in English? | I've heard: leck, as in ch eck, and va-len-sa. |
07-Sep-2007, 16:56
|  | Key Member | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Country: Poland
Posts: 2,332
Current Location: Jelenia Gora, Poland First Language: Polish Member Type: Other | |  Re: How to pronounce Lech Walesa
If you want to sound Polish-like, you should pronounce the name as follows: Le(h) = (like the 'h' in how) Va'(wh) = (like the 'wh' in what) ensa
Otherwise, try the following: Le(ck) Va'lensa (the easiest to say, I guess  ).  I'm Polish by birth, nationality, origin, and so on... 
The punctuation mark ' means the primary stress. |
07-Sep-2007, 20:06
| | Key Member | | Join Date: Jan 2006 Country: Poland
Posts: 1,758
Current Location: Poland First Language: Polish Member Type: Student or Learner | | Re: How to pronounce Lech Walesa
Quote:
Originally Posted by Soup I've heard: leck, as in check, and va-len-sa. | Yes, listen to engee30. As a Pole, I might have problems with understanding "leck" as "lech". This reminds me how much time it takes to learn English pronunciation. Though they say Polish pronunciation is hard, and I met many non-Poles who claimed Polish sounds not nice, kind of rustling. Sounds fine for me (Polish, I mean)! |
08-Sep-2007, 12:05
|  | Newbie | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Country: Poland
Posts: 20
Current Location: Lubycza Królewska, Poland First Language: Polish Member Type: Student or Learner | | Re: How to pronounce Lech Walesa
Well,
Lech Wałęsa: lek (or as in Polish lex) va:'wents (English Pronouncing Dictionary, Daniel Jones 17 th Edition) | | |
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